Urmila Matondkar resigns from Congress; cites party inaction, 'vested interests'

Actor-turned-politician Urmila Matondkar who unsuccessfully contested 2019 Lok Sabha election from Mumbai North constituency on a Congress ticket, resigned from the party on Tuesday citing inaction on the part of "key functionaries of Mumbai Congress" for the "betterment of the organisation".

Explaining the reason behind quitting, Matondkar, In her statement, also stated her "sensibilities refuse to allow vested interests in the party to use" her "as a means to fight petty in-house politics".

"It is obvious that the key functionaries of Mumbai Congress are either unable or not committed to bring about a change and transformation in the organisation for betterment of the party. My political and social sensibilities refuse to allow vested interests in the party to use me as a mean to fight petty in-house politics instead of working on a bigger goal in Mumbai Congress", Matondkar said in a statement.

She also outlined that despite her repeated efforts, no action was taken in pursuance with a letter written by her to Mumbai Congress President Milind Deora.

"Significantly, some of the persons specifically named in my letter for the shoddy performance of INC in Mumbai North were rewarded with newer positions instead of holding them accountable for their acts and omissions", her statement read.

In July this year, a letter written by Urmila to then Mumbai Congress chief Milind Deora on May 16, mentioning discrepancies at the local level in the party, went viral in the social media and political circles.

In the nine-page letter, Urmila had said, "Key functionaries, such as Bhushan Patil failed to hold meetings between key functionaries of the party at the block level and ward level which resulted in complete failure of communication."

Matondkar, who contested her debut election from Mumbai North constituency, lost to BJP leader Gopal Shetty by 4,65,000 votes.